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U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Education, Safe
and Drug-Free Schools Program.

Issue/Question:How often do hate crimes occur?

Suggested Response:

According to the FBI, reported hate crimes increased slightly, from 7,462 in 2002 to 7,489 in 2003. The 7,489 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI involved 8,715 separate offenses, 9,100 victims, and 6,934 known offenders. Racial bias represented the largest percentage of bias-motivated incidents (51.3%), followed by Religion Bias (17.9%), Sexual Orientation Bias (16.5%), Ethnicity Bias (13.7%), and Disability Bias (0.4%). Anti-black bias was the most prevalent racial motivation, with 2,548 incidents (34% of all hate crimes); anti-male homosexual bias was the most common sexual orientation motivation, with 783 incidents (10.5% of all hate crimes). The number of reported anti-Islamic crimes decreased from 155 in 2002 to 149 in 2003, a decrease of 0.4%. In addition, the number of hate crimes directed at individuals on the basis of their national origin/ethnicity also decreased ¬¬- from 1,102 in 2002 to 1,026 in 2003.